Election campaigns, politicians go mobile with iPhone app

VANCOUVER – A website, blog, Facebook account and Twitter feed have all become pretty much mandatory for anyone running an election campaign, but would-be politicians can now add another tool they’ll have to get used to: the mobile app.

Political apps aren’t yet widespread, with just a few examples sprinkled across the country in the past year. But observers and campaigns who’ve created their own mobile applications predict they will soon be a requirement for anyone hoping to get elected.

The apps typically contain much of the same information as a candidate’s website, pulling together their bio, Twitter feed, Facebook wall, news releases, photos and videos all in one place. The apps themselves — almost all for the iPhone — have so far been free, but they typically include a button allowing users to donate from their phone.

The latest politician to launch an app is B.C. Liberal leadership candidate Kevin Falcon, whose campaign has created free downloadable programs for both the iPhone and BlackBerry.

Other politicians who’ve tried beaming their message straight to voters’ phones include Tim Hudak, the leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party, B.C. cabinet minister Rich Coleman, former Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien, who used an app during his failed re-election campaign last year, and Calgary’s new mayor, Naheed Nenshi, among others.

Marko Dekovic, who works on Falcon’s campaign, says it’s about being where the voters are.

“We need to be available to them on a platform that they’re most in tune with,” says Dekovic. “We know now that this is the new way people interact and get information online. It also reaches out to our own volunteers and donors. It powers activism.”

Falcon’s campaign released its iPhone app late last month, and followed with a BlackBerry version earlier this week. Dekovic says more than 250 people have downloaded the app so far. He won’t say how much it cost, but the website for the company that designed it says prices “start under $10,000.”

Kathleen Cross, who teaches about political communications at Simon Fraser University, says politicians have little choice but to adopt the latest technologies in their campaigns, and mobile apps will likely be no different.

But she says just having an app won’t be enough unless politicians learn how to use them well.

“One of the first rules in political communications in a campaign is you go where people are. So you had to have a Facebook page; apps are new enough that people don’t need it, but very soon they will,” says Cross.

“How well they work depends on the content and the design of it and what the message is.”

For example, Cross says most politicians use Facebook and Twitter now, but some still haven’t figured out the technology. Politicians who simply use social media platforms to post news releases won’t connect as well as someone who sends out casual Tweets about life on the campaign trail, in a tone that everyday Twitter users will be used to reading.

Cross says another reason it’s valuable for politicians to adopt new technology is the media coverage it can generate.

“The first and obvious reason that any politically motivated group or individual, such as someone running for office, would use something like this is, frankly, to get media attention,” says Cross, who adds that journalists are also likely to use them to keep track of what politicians are up to.

“And not just attention, but because apps, now that so much of the Internet is happening on the phone, really speaks to journalists’ need for speed and mobility when they’re filing stories.”

In Calgary, Nenshi’s campaign relied heavily on social media to overcome two perceived frontrunners in the election. His iPhone app included content from Nenshi’s social media feeds, along with Tweets and posts from supporters, and it allowed users to contact the campaign.

Nenshi’s chief of staff, Chima Nkemdirim, says the app generated news stories not just in the local media but in national outlets, as well.

“There is a lot of media coverage about social media and the use of technology, and we were the first people in Calgary to do a mobile app for a campaign,” says Nkemdirim, who was Nenshi’s campaign manager.

“Just the media attention alone was worth the cost of the app,”

Nkemdirim said the app was primarily targeted at Nenshi’s supporters, with about 800 users downloading it before the election.

“It really became a tool for people to talk about the candidate. Our campaign really was a word-of-mouth campaign, and his was a great talking piece: ‘Hey, I’m going to vote for this guy and I’ve got an app here on my iPhone and I can actually show you his policies, his Twitter feed, what he’s about,”‘ he said.

“I think it really empowered our supporters to get the message out.”

Joe Cutbirth, another expert in political communication who teaches at the University of British Columbia’s journalism school, says the apps can help energize the base of supporters that politicians need to win elections.

“The way politicians survive or have longevity is they build a community of voters,” says Cutbirth.

“You try to build this community, and one way you can keep a community together is through constant communication. And so as you see more and more people communicating through these phones, then an app is a way to keep these people together.”